Regulation of regenerative furnaces.



J. H. GRAY & M. A. NEE-LAND. REGULATION OF REGENERATIVB FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.3, 1911.

Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

J. H. GRA Y & M. A. NEELAND. REGULATION OF REGENERATIVE FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 3, 1911.

1,054,643., Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

3 SHEETSSHBET 2.

Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

3 EXHEETS-SHEET 3.

VE T085 J. H. GRAY 8: M. A. NEELAND.

REGULATION OF REGENERATIVE FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR, 3, 1911.

Alva/MY UNITEDSTATES PATE ornron.

JAMES H. GRAY, or new YORK, N. Y., AND MARVIN A. NEE-LAND, or MonrcLAm,

NEW JERSEY,

REGULATION or mieni'rnnarivn summons.

rammed Feb. 25,1913.

' Application filed March 3, 19 11. Serial No. 612,046.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES H. GRAY, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, city county, and State ofNew York, and MARVIN A. NnnLAND, a citizen of the United States, residingin Montclair, New Jersey, have invented-new and useful Improvements-in Regulation of Regenerative Furnaces, of which the following is Est-specification.

This invention aims to provide an improvedprocess for regulating the incoming and outgoing airand gases of regenerative heating or melting furnaces, such for example as the Siemens-Martin or open hearth furnace commonly used in the steel industry.-

Such furnaces are ordinarily constructed with a pair of regenerative H chambers at each end of the furnace which'are filled with a' checker work of brick. The hot gases leaving the melting room or-chamber of the furnace pass out atone end and through the two regenerative chambers at that end of the furnace on their way to the stack. 'At the same time fuel gas and air for combustion pass through the opposite pair of regenerative chambers and thence into the other end of the furnace. At intervals the direction -of flow is reversed and the regenerative chambers which have been heatedby the outgoing gases aroused to heat the incoming air and fuel gas; while the other pair of, r'egenerative chambers are again heated by the outgoing-gases. The furnace is provided wit-h suitable valves by which the flow of air and gases can 'be re- I versed as described.

After the furnace has run for a certain period, say ten weeks, the checkers in the.

regenerative chambers become covered with a crust which is caused by the formation of coke due to decomposition of the fuel gas and also the particles of lime or iron ore,

' or other materials passing over from the furnace with the outgoing gases, which will flux with'the checker brick. This makes it impossible to draw into the furnace sufiicient air and gas for combustion, and it is found that the weekly production of the furnace is'greatly reduced so that, say toward the twentieth week, the production of a the furnace willhe reduced twenty-'fiveper cent. Even where'the furnace is provided with a stack which might furnish sufiicient cracks about the doors. of the furnace.

draft to draw the outgoing gases through the checker work at the outgoing end it is not possible to satisfactorily utilize such draft to pull the air and fuel gas into the furnace'because air is sucked in through %1e 11 theiotherhand, if the ingoing air and gas be put under pressure they will be forced through the checkers intogthe furnace, but

there be insufficient draft on the outgoing side the gases are forced out of the doors of the furnace and" there is improper combustion within the melting room of the furnace.

By the present invention these difficulties may be avoided and a good working of the furnace maintained even after thechecker work has deteriorated, by forcingthe air through the checker work under pressure, the pressure and other conditions being calculated to maintain substantially or 'approximately atmospheric pressure in the furnace. The quantity of air enteringthe furnace may be regulated by a valve, such as an auxiliary valve of the air reversing valve, or by regulating the speed made by the fan or'other blower; the former method being preferable. The pressure on the fuel will, and the fan is arranged on the far sideof a boiler through which the gases are first passed, both for the purpose of recovering the heat from the gases and for the purpose of cooling the gases and saving the fan from exposure to such high temperatures. The stack or the fan, or the two together, are large enough to draw'the gases through the checkers on the ofi'going end even when these are dirty. At the beginning of the runof the furnace the stack damper is partly closed and toward the end of the run when the checker work becomes clogged the damper is opened. By the combination of Or, as an alternative the two fans, or the one fan and the stack with its damper, or equivalent devices" for forcing in the air under pressure and for drawing oft the gases at the desiredrate,

the relative pressures between the incoming air and gas and the outgoing gases can be -readily regulated to obtain practically atmospheric pressure in the furnace and to use the desired quantity of air and gas while overcoming the gradually increasing resistance of the clogged and dirty checker Work.

The quantity of airand gas going through the furnace is maintained constant. regardless of the condition of the checker work and the escape of air and gases or the drawing in of air throughthe cracks, of the furnace doors is avoided by first forcing the air and gas intothe melting room with sufiicient force to maintain atmospheric pressure there 20 melting room with sufiicient suction to insure the use of the desired quantity of air and, second, withdrawing the gases from the through theregenerative chamber'on the ad,

mission end, but pass directly under regulable pressure into theifurnace with the air.

The air on the ingoing side however passes through the regenerative chamber or chambers and the gases of combustion through the outgoing regenerative chamber or chambers as above described. And all the ing'oing air, whether passing through a single or a double regenerative chamber, comes originally from the fan or other blower. A single regenerative chamber at each end of the furnace is all that is theoretically necessary un-. der such circumstances, but it is usual to make each chamber in duplicate, substantially as in Fig". 1, running the air and waste gases through both impartially. The principle is the same whether single regenerators or duplicate regenerators are used.

It may. happenin some plants that the supply of fuel gas is adequate with little or no adjustment of pressure from beginning to end of the run ofthe furnace; or

that the gas regenerating chamber is so large in the beginning that the deterioration thereof is not such as to interfere seriously with the flow of the gas for a comparatively long time. In such cases the furnace may be run with little or no adjustment of the pressure on the gas supply, the only adjustment at the supply end being of the air. the latter. The inlet side of the fan K com- "F ure mansions se ieeira tly f plan ofan openQhearth furnaceof the; type commonly used nithe steel. industry, with the 'ch'ecker work and air and gas passages Referring to these drawings, the melting room or chamber of the furnace is'indilated at A, It is provided with". air' admission ports a and a gas admission portb, the ports being duplicated at theoppositeendspf the.

furnace.v Connected with the gas .port bat one end. is a gas regenerative chamber B and connected with the gas port at the other end is an identical chamber B, these chambers containing checker work of any usual or suitable description. Connected with the two air ports a at one end is an air regen- 'erative chamber C, and connected with the a rports at the opposite end is an identical chamber C, these two chambers being like wise provided with checkerwork as shown.-

The furnace or melting room A is provided with chargmg doors 0 at one side and with .a

tapping hole dat the opposite side. Flues D and D connect the checker work gas regenerative chambers, through three-way valves 0 and O, with gas admission flues e and e coming from the-producer or other source of gas, or with flues J and J leading .into flues J and to the stack or exhaust fan. The valves 0 and O are of. any ordinary type calculated to put the flues' D'and D into communication alternatively with the flues e and J or the flues e and J; the two valves being operated so as-to put the flue D into communication with theflue J when D is in communication with e, and viceyersa.

The air flues E and E connect the air regenerative chambers C and C respectively with a butterfly valve F by which these flues are putin communication alternatively with the exhaust flue J 1When one of the air flues, as E -in Fig. 3, is in communication with the exhaust flue J", the other communicates with the discharge pipe Iof a fan f by which air is forced into the air flue E in quantity controlled by a regulating valve G, the stem of which projectsupward and carries a hand wheel H for screwing it'up and down. The motor gforoperating the fan 1 may be adjustable in speed by the ordinary commutator or other controlling device.

chamber in,the desired quantity an exhaust fan K and a stack L are provided, a damper -M in the flue J serving to cut off the flue J from direct communication with the stack and to direct all the exhaust gases through the fan, and a regulating damper N in the stack serving "to regulate the cross-section of For drawing gases out of the melting producer gas is being used,

from the producer to the-valve Of which is v1 and N being open, the gases are drawn -.by the exhaust fan K through the boiler Q,

thrown so as to conduct the flue D into the the furnace A. taken into the fan f, forced 1 through the regulating valve G bywhich the furnace operator regulates the quantity of air going gas through the gas regenerator B and into into the'furnace, thenthrough the butterfly valve into the flue E,

the regenerator and thence into the furnace A. The air 'and gas unite'j in the furnace and burn,

forming gases of combustion, which pass out of the furnace and then impartially through the regenerators B and (,thence through flues D and E. The gases in the flue D passthrough' the three-way valve 0 which is thrown so as to conduct them into the flue J. The gases in the flue E pass through the butterfly valve which is thrown so as to conduct them likewise-into the flue'J"! The damper M being closed and the dampers P and forced into the stack whence they escape into the atmosphere (or the damper M being open and the. dampers P and P being closed, the gases pass directly into the stack without going throughthe fan K and are.

regulated by the damper N). During the passa e ofgases through the boiler-heat is p trans erred to the water-in the boiler for the purpose of making steam which may be utilized in various ways; and by controlling the revolutions of the fan K (or the position of'the damper N, or both) in conjunction with ya proper control of the pressure of'the producer gas and the pressure and quantity of air introduced by the fan f and through the valve G the proper pressure and quantity and the desiredcombustion are obtained in the furnace A. 1

the various fines or to lrneasure the speed of the fans or the positions of the valves and dampers. The furnace operator can determine by observation ofthe working of the furnace when the pressure is too high quantity of air and gases adjust the mechanisin-.- -Atthe same time the pressure of the producer gas in the flue every fifteen minutes, the three-way At the same time air is great ortoo small ,andcan accordingly manner so as to maintain the proper relative pressures between the air and gas going into the furnace. I

At certain intervals of time, usually valves 0 and O and the butterfly valve F are thrown so as to reverse the conditions and to direct the inflowing air and gas through the regenerators previously heated by the outflowing gases of combustion.

The-flow of the air and all of the gases through the furnace is then in an opposite direction to that of the preceding riod, .but conditions are exactly the same during all periods except as to the direction of flow of the air and gases.

Though we have described with great particularity of detail certain specific embodiments of our invention, yet it is not to be understood therefrom that the invention is restricted to the specific embodiments described. Various modifications in the steps described may be made by those skilled in the art without departure from the invention.

lVhat we'claim is:

L'The method of operating a furnace having regenerative chambers at its opposite ends which consists in forcing air and fuel gas-through the admission chambers and into the furnace and withdrawing the gases of" combustion through the exhaust chambers, and regulating the introduction of theair and fuel gas and the Withdrawal of the gases of combustion'so as to provide a determined quantityof air and fuel gas pressure in thefurnace under changing'conditions in the regenerative chambers.

2. The method of operating a. furnace having a regenerative chamber at each end which consists in feeding fuel into the -fur nace and forcing air thereinto through the admission chamber" and withdrawing theproducts of combustion through the'exhaust chamber, and regulating the introduction of the air and the withdrawal of the gases of and to maintain substantially atmospheric combustion so as to provide a determined quantity of airand fuel and to maintain substantially" atmospheric pressure in the furnace under changing conditions in the re- 7 r generative chambers. It is not essential to measure the pressure or'volume of air and gases passing through gases of combustion through the exhaust chambers, and regulating the introduction offair and the withdrawal of the gases of combustion so as'to provide a determined ---qua'ntity' of air and fuel gas and to maintain substa' ntially atmospheric pressure in the furnace under changing' conditions in the iregenerative chambers.

4. In combination with an open hearth crease or decrease the quantity of air and regenerative furnace, a fan for forcing air gases passing through the same. through the regenerative chamber into the -In witness whereof, we have hereunto furnace, a stack for withdrawing the waste signed our names in the presence of two sub- 5 gases and afan for withdrawing the waste scribing witnesses.

gases from the furnace, and means for 2161- J AMES H. GRAY. justing the relation between the air intro- MARVIN A. NEELAND. duced into and the waste gases withdrawn Witnesses:

from the furnace so as to maintain a uni- KENNETH R. HALs'rEAD,

10 form pressure within the furnace and to in- I D. ANTHONY UBINA. 

